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Vividcon Recs [Aug. 21st, 2014|08:12 pm]

anoel
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[xpost |http://anoel.livejournal.com/159132.html]
[Current Mood |creative]
[Current Music |vvc vids]

So I am super behind on Vividcon related stuff but I am determined to get things done by next week so here are some Vividcon vid recs. There were SO many amazing vids this year in a million different fandoms and I encourage everyone to check out the masterlist here to see if there were any for sources and songs you may be interested in. These recs are just the ones that worked the most for me and my personal preferences heavily influence the list so even if I don't mention certain vids, it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them! But here are my favorites:

Fantasy by [livejournal.com profile] sisabet (The Mindy Project) - This was the FEELS vid of the con for me and I had to physically restrain myself during Premieres from squee and couldn't help all the happy tears from falling. This captures Mindy's struggle for the fantasy romantic relationship SO WELL and chooses the perfect clips to bring the emotions and structure of it is SO PERFECT and I LOVE IT SO MUCH I CANT EVEN TALK ABOUT JUST *FLAIL*

Immigrant Song by [livejournal.com profile] hollywoodgrrl (Vikings) - Out of all the vids at the con, this was the one that impressed me the most visually and left my jaw literally on the floor with the STUNNING ending section that blew my mind with the symbolism and effects and just go join me and watch this a million times. HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS VID!!!

A Single Man by [livejournal.com profile] obsessive24 (A Single Man) - This movie was one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen and this vid does an AMAZING job at capturing that gorgeous beauty and the emotional journey of the story with beautiful color and parallels and feelings.

***Flawless by [livejournal.com profile] kiki_miserychic (Disney Princesses) - This is the Disney vid I ALWAYS wanted and never knew I needed which both celebrates and critiques Disney movies with amazing parallels and interesting commentary and wow, that ending.

Myxomatosis by [livejournal.com profile] hollywoodgrrl (Bates Motel) - This was an amazing distillation of everything Bates Motel was trying to do with amazing parallels with Psycho while being an intense character study of Norman and his relationship with Norma and how fucked up it is inside his mind portrayed visually so brilliantly.

Dance Alarm by [personal profile] thirdblindmouse (The Fast & the Furious series) - This vid is a beautiful kinetic motion showcase of all the things I love about the franchise: the cars, slash, badass women and nonstop action paired with one of my favorite songs.

Vitalum Vitalis by [livejournal.com profile] hollywoodgrrl and [livejournal.com profile] ohvienna (American Horror Story: Coven) - This is a stunning femslash vid that gave me lots of feelings without ever seeing the show and the use of imagery in this is simply gorgeous and intense.

Chasing Cars by [livejournal.com profile] sisabet (Due South) - BRB CRYING!!! This vid destroyed me emotionally during Challenge and even on rewatch, makes me cry so hard with its love for our pets and how much we lean on them when the world sucks and we need someone to love. DIEF!!! <3

Celebration by [livejournal.com profile] sweetestdrain (Multi) - This is a seamlessly edited vid of all the music videos featuring amazing female pop divas which is both sexy as fuck and a critique of the music industry in super great ways.

Work Bitch by [livejournal.com profile] rhoboat (Reign) - This vid is super pretty with some amazing effects and a certain work it section will never fail to make me laugh with the ridiculousness.

Warrior by [livejournal.com profile] findthesea (Marvel Cinematic Universe) - If you would have told me before the con that I'd be reccing a Marvel vid, I would have said no fucking way because I'm super sick of Marvel and superheroes at the moment. BUT this vid was able to convert me because it focuses on all the amazing women in MCU (who should IMO be the real heroes with actual storylines but I digress) and shows all the ways in which they're awesome.
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The Olympics of life (no my life isn't that epic) [Aug. 2nd, 2012|08:54 pm]

anoel
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[Current Mood |happy]
[xpost |http://anoel.livejournal.com/138253.html]
[Current Music |olympics]

Wow it's been awhile. But some kind of update is in order. Most importantly, VIVIDCON IS IN A WEEK!!! I'm still in shock that I'll be in Chicago this time next week. I'll be at the hotel sometime around 5pm or so and I can't hang wait to hang out with people! Not to mention get a ton of my favorite Pad Thai ;) I just can't wait for CLUB VIVID and PREMIERES and getting to forget about work and life and focus on friends and so many of my favorite people. I have a Club Vivid and Premieres vid this year that I'm really happy with (it took a little distance first though) and I'm planning on wearing an actual costume this year, should be interesting. It'll certainly be unique haha. I leave on Monday morning at like 5:30am....yeah work made me come back but I didn't want to miss the late night fun on Sunday as I deeply regretted that the first time I came to Vividcon. I just need my four days damnit, I want to talk to ALL THE PEOPLE.

The other big thing is I moved into a new apartment! I'm living with [personal profile] jetpack_monkey and [personal profile] echan in Downtown LA! It's aweeeeesome. I love living with other fans and even better VID fans so we can watch vids and TV and vid together whenever. I love having my own bedroom and the building is great with a pool and gym and parking which is soo nice after dealing with horrible street parking for three months. Plus I'm in DTLA!!! This is literally my favorite place in the entire world. I love being right in the center of everything, with all these tall buildings all around me. For me tall buildings make me feel like anything is possible, that your dreams can take you ANYWHERE. And there's so much energy, people and shops and amaaazing restaurants and life and growth. Downtown is in the middle of a renaissance and I can't wait to be part of it. There's something special about living in the place you want to help improve. And today I realized I really need to start getting involved in it.

Work is still going good (really time consuming though) and I'm really happy to be continuing to learn and grow and learn what startup life is like. Plus I'm making more money so it's really nice to have more spare money for fun stuff (like vacations! and fooood). It's also been a LOT of fun the last few months to hang out with and vid with [personal profile] elipie, [personal profile] jetpack_monkey, [personal profile] osaraba and [personal profile] rhoboat. It helps so much to vid when you have another vidfan beside you who you can show vidding stuff to as you do it and talk about vid struggles and watch TV and vids together. It's just great to have a little LA vidding community going and I hope it keeps getting bigger. I've also been watching a lot of Olympics lately, mostly gymnastics since it's my FAVORITE. I used to play gymnastics as a kid and I loooooooooved the uneven bars. Like part of the reason I quit (maybe the only one I don't remember) was because I was forced to do everything else and not just the bars. So during the Olympics I always get super invested in one person and the USA team as a whole. Last time it was Nastia Liukin and this time it's Gabby Douglas who is AMAZING and Spoilers for Women's All Around ) She's just so high flying at the bars and she just has the IT factor that I love. So happy for the US team. Wish Jordan could have competed but I'm glad Gabby made it in.

Fandom-wise I'm kind of behind and not as invested as I used to be but I do have a new fandom I'm in love with...Game of Thrones. I was into it before but after reading all the books and now I'm in the midst of vidding it and reading fic and I just loooove it. I have that fannish urge to get totally consumed by the books, TV, vidding, fic, actors, all of it but I just don't have time right now sadly. Hopefully when [profile] lianri comes to LA after VVC (!!!! sooo excited), we can geek out about it together and that'll help. I'm also loving Breaking Bad...except I'm an episode behind because of the Olympics and work and trying to get some sleep. I need to remedy this soon because I love this season so far! Ohhhh Jesse. And Walt is creepy and awesome and horrible and entertaining all at the same time. So glad to see all these people again. I've also gotten into One Direction fandom (thanks to [personal profile] elipie) for awhile now and I looove Harry/Louis. Harry is a freaking feminist prince (plus insanely pretty) and Louis is hilarious and cute and willing to do anything. I went to a concert (guess with who) and had a fun time screaming and going crazy over them and the serious slash. Other things I've been watching is Bunheads, Political Animals, The Glee Project (Nellie!! and Charlie!!), Newsroom (I've stopped, not sure if I'm going to try again) and I've been catching up on Homeland. Oh and I watched the LA Complex premiere and I totally totally am shipping Connor/Raquel!! Awww.

Finally, fic recs!! Because lately I've gotten some GLORIOUS fic from people that everyone should read. First up, two Jaime/Brienne fics of AWESOME. There is the spy who loved (to drive) me (crazy) ie the SPY AU and hold my hand as I'm lowered where Jaime never shuts up (awwww he doesn't, does he?). Both hilarious and totally true to character. And then....[personal profile] thingswithwings wrote me my ultimate femslash fic!!! It's called Concession and it's LESLIE/JENNIFER!!!! Yeah you read that right, to the best of my knowledge the first Leslie/Jennifer fic ever and it's amaaaaaazing. God I love them. Leslie is just entirely Leslie and Jennifer is Jennifer and they are competing political advisors who are secretly attracted to each other and just read it and be amazed (bonus: it's really hot). While you're at it, go watch her Parks and Rec/Community female relationships vid as well, it's wonderful!

And for my birthday in October I'm going to Colorado to hang out with [profile] asuka14! I can't wait. Going to stop in Las Vegas on the way home to gamble a bit ;) Mmm traveling.
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Taking a Break [Jun. 21st, 2010|07:45 pm]

anoel
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[Current Mood |optimistic]
[Current Music |"No Such Thing" by John Mayer]

So I'm going to be taking a break from LJ and other various social media sites for awhile, at least a month or so. The last two days I did a trial run of it and it was surprisingly refreshing. I got a ton of work done on my Premieres vid (which is coming along well thankfully) and it was nice to have kind of a mental break from reading so much and have time to focus on other things. Plus with all of the crap and fail going on in the world, I could use a break from that on the internet as I get enough of life sucks in my day to day life. Will probably check in from time and time and I will check my email everyday so that's the best way to contact me if you need me.

Already it's kind of weird and it totally feels like breaking an addiction (which it is and I'm usually at peace with) but it's a nice change of pace. I really do need to focus on my priorities right now which is getting out of this place and out traveling the world. Hope everyone doesn't have too much fun without me and nothing blows up while I'm away.

On a final fannish note, Glee is love and here's a vid that proves it: You've Got the Love. It's just a fun, sweet full of love vid that just makes me happy to watch it in part because it uses one of my favorite Florence and the Machines songs. God, I love this show no matter what anyone says.
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Giant List of Vid Recs From Vividcon [Aug. 24th, 2009|11:43 pm]

anoel
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[Current Mood |tired]
[Current Music |Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead]

So here is my Giant list of Vid Recs from Vividcon. I encourage everyone to check them out even if it's not a fandom you watch, they really are that good. Keep in mind this list is just my personal favorites that fit my preferences including source, song and vidding likes so it may not fit yours and it certainly isn't a list of all the great vids at Vividcon. First, my personal favorites:

American Tune by [personal profile] trelkez, The West Wing, Ensemble (major spoilers for S1-7): FAVORITE VID OF THE CON! This vid was such a surprise to me as I was NOT expecting any TWW vids and then I saw this perfect love song to my show and my people and it made my very soul the happiest person on earth. It lovingly let's the emotions of the characters shine and takes you on an intense roller coaster ride of emotions, letting you pause to experience each one no matter whether it's pain or Team love or patriotic joy. It kills me to watch this but I go back again and again because I love these people and I LOVE THIS VID SO MUCH OMG!

Beautiful Dirty Rich by [personal profile] astolat and [personal profile] merryish, American Idol, Adam Lambert: OMG I LOVE THIS VID SOOO MUCH! Perfect fandom timing as I get into my beloved Adam and this vid captures so much of what I love of him, the sexiness, the edge, the cuteness (smiles!), the hearts and sparkles, the smoking hot photoshoots, the fun and of course, the Adam/Kris love. In short, it makes me very, very happy and has been on repeat approximately 200 times.

Say Hey (I Love You) by [personal profile] sdwolfpup, The Obamas: This is THE love song (in vid form) to Barack and Michelle for giving us hope again and making us fall in love with what could be, what we can do and now what is. I love how it blends still and video footage and shows off how they are both such dorks and a beautiful romantic love story. I LOVE YOU OBAMA. Even when it's only the idea.

Can Delight by [personal profile] jescaflowne, Multifandom: This is the MINDBLOWING EFFECTS VID OF AWESOME! I am still in amazement and can't take my eyes off all the flying cheerleaders and pretty and effects. There is Buffy and Faith and Claire and it is filled with joy. Wow, just wow.

Break Teen Spirit in Four Minutes by [personal profile] bananainpyjamas, Wanted: I LOVE THIS VID! So much energy, beaaaaautiful motion and such dynamic use of the motion. I love this mashup, so, so much (especially the Teen Spirit parts) and there are so many shots in this vid that make me gasp with their perfection. Another vid that's been on repeat a lot.

Bromance? by [personal profile] wickedwords and [personal profile] sherrold, Multifandom: OMGSQUEE!! This vid makes me super happy and not just because it has a wonderful section devoted to House/Wilson that makes my heart burst into singing love songs. It's cute and charming, the song is perfect and the end is endlessly satisfying. In conclusion, love (and the answer is romance!).

Thriller by [personal profile] buffyann, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Supernatural: Perfect song + Perfect source + Perfect editing = Perfect vid. I love the OMWF footage in this SO much and all of the clips fit the creepiness of the song exactly and seamlessly flow into each other. Wow.

Metaphor by [personal profile] cesperanza and [personal profile] flummery, Multifandom: So much fun! The song seems written for fans especially with the hilarious use of phallic (and other) imagery. And the little bits of House made me super happy to see cause I'm a crazy fan like that.

Mad About You by [profile] gwyn_r, Mad Men, Betty, Joan, Peggy (some Betty/Don, Joan/Roger and Peggy/Pete): MAD MEN VID!! That alone is worth a rec but this is a beautiful vid (and song) showcasing the women of Mad Men and their relationships with the men of Mad Men with a wonderful framing device and heartbreaking execution.

Hard Sun by [personal profile] bradcpu and [personal profile] laurashapiro, Firefly, Ensemble: This is a love letter to Firefly and to how we go through our lives as fans and it makes me so happy to see that I'm not the only one, just like fandom does. Beautiful use of outside footage and cues to signal events outside the source.

Vid Recs for Slings & Arrows, Terminator: TSCC, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Multifandom, Dexter, Burn Notice, Better Than Chocolate, Harry Potter, Supernatural, Heroes, Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Life, Fantasia, Vidding, Leverage, Wonderfalls, Californication and Merlin )

Sorry for so much reccing but there was SO many great vids at VVC and I didn't want to miss any and that's not even taking into account some AWESOME ones I left out. Vividcon = Vid Christmas.

Do any other vidders wish they had a vid idea on/off switch so that you could turn it off when you wanted to NOT get any vid ideas and any ones you would have thought of would stay unconscious til you turned the switch on again? Cause I really need one of those right now after getting attacked by another vid idea I don't have time to vid right now. There could even be a filter for fandom if say you only wanted vid ideas for a certain fandom or NOT in a certain fandom as the case may be. If only...
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Happy Birthday, Jesus. Sorry your party's so lame. [Dec. 25th, 2008|05:15 pm]

anoel
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[Current Music |Matt Pond PA]
[Current Mood |peaceful]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Flist! As the subject says, the party is kind of lame here as we don't do a lot for the holiday besides a dinner and a present or two (mostly money). But nice to get the day off work and be able to do whatever I want. Which is mostly to watch Six Feet Under as it is my mission to finish S2 today. I am looking forward to watching Doctor Who Christmas special as well which is just about done. And there's always Yuletide too which although I'm always jealous of the people who get to participate, there's good fic I like and this year a vid! Everyone should check out [livejournal.com profile] eruthros and [livejournal.com profile] thingswithwings's One-Night Fandoms: A Tribute to Yuletide which is an awesome look at all the more obscure fandoms. And there's two fics for The Wire this year! I always check that fandom first and both are wonderfully Omar/Brandon focused. There's Five Ways Omar Remembers Brandon and Scar Tissue and both are great :)

I fail at the Happiness Meme but nothing very happy has happened to me lately so not much to report. At least you are spared my rant on how much I hate cold and snow and 10 minute trips taking 45 minutes instead causing me to scream. But at least Six Feet Under has been great! It's a show that takes awhile to sink in, it reminds me of Mad Men in that I don't have a ton of LOVE and JOY in it but yet I want to watch more and more and I like all the characters and want to find out more about them. At the moment I love David, Brenda and Claire the most and I'm looking forward to marathoning some more. I don't know if I'm looking forward to the series finale or this vid (which everyone whose seen SFU should go watch) more.

Hope everyone's holidays are going well!
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TV love [Aug. 27th, 2008|01:10 am]

anoel
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[Current Music |"Climb Up the Walls" by Radiohead]
[Current Mood |touched]

I love, love, love Slings & Arrows! I am in the midst of complete love must watch every episode right now OMG and it is glorious. Just finished Season One which was awesome. I got pimped into the show at Vividcon wherein I learned that not only was it smart, all about Shakespeare and stars pretty Paul Gross, it's FUNNY. What I'm really loving about it is it explores what I find most fascinating about acting in theater/tv/film is how actors get themselves into a character and the whole creative process of it. So cool. And the OT3 is awesome and Geoffrey and Ellen are so, so cute and I just love everyone except Holly. Which are her and Richard kind of like Macbeth and his wife? Wish my Shakespeare knowledge was better so I could get everything. Beautiful, wonderful end to the season though. I always forget that wonderful feeling of *needing* to marathon every episode of a show and this one is hitting me exactly in that place. Seriously if you like smart, funny shows about Shakespeare, definitely check this show out!

Then SGA and Flashpoint had to go and break me with their latest episodes.

Spoilers for Stargate Atlantis: The Shrine )

Everytime I think I'm okay with SGA's cancellation, they pull something like this and make me love the show SO MUCH. Definitely in my top three episodes, Tao of Rodney, The Shrine, McKay and Mrs. Miller (notice a pattern?) although I have to watch Tao again to get the exact order. You just can't replace these characters and relationships. I'll watch Stargate Universe because I'm curious but really unless they get better writers/create awesome characters (with good actors), I'll doubt it'll be any good. Stupid networks and writers.

And then Flashpoint with the BROTHERS and the Supernatural and Due South references! I don't usually get into one shot characters but DAMN THEM I'm so hooked and I want moremoremore.

Spoilers for Flashpoint 107 )

"Slash is what happens when you take away the glass." Yes, that! (thank you Henry, Jenkins) God, I'm easy. You'd think I'd learn my lesson after Climbing Up the Walls, [livejournal.com profile] obsessive24's AMAZING video that was my very favorite vid of Vividcon and that everyone should go running to check out right now (Supernatural, Firefly, Heroes). It blows my time every time I watch it. There isn't enough words for my love. How much do I love dark, messed up relationships? A LOT. More vid recs and VVC report to come but I have to give a special mention to this.

And yay to a second series of Flashpoint! I'm currently dying for the new season to start especially The Office, Pushing Daisies, House, How I Met Your Mother and Heroes. I miss the feeling of having a ton of beloved shows to watch and getting squeeful every week. Can't wait!
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TV, the Olympics and VIVIDCON (4 more days!) [Aug. 10th, 2008|12:13 am]

anoel
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[Current Mood |drained]
[Current Music |"Just Dance" by Lady GaGa]

OMG you guys! [livejournal.com profile] sisabet just made an Arrested Development vid!!! It's about George Michael and it's incredibly cute and hilariously funny (show, how are you so brilliant?) and I adore it to pieces. Go watch now!

Remember how I said I wasn't going to spoil myself for House? Well I resisted until a few days ago when the promos came out and I just couldn't not look (plus video spoilers aren't as bad as text) And thank god I did because OMG can House and Wilson get any slashier? I swear, I was speechless and then sent into the land of flailing squee. I just...wow. Don't ever change, show! (SO CANON) Spoilers for the promos, I can't not talk about them )

So Flist, how did I not hear that Nathan Fillion is going to star in a new show, The Castle about a horror writer that consults with the NYPD that's probably going to be picked up by ABC midseason? And that there's also a good chance that Rob Thomas's show, Good Behavior about a family of criminals led by a matriarch will be picked up then as well. So awesome! ABC keeps getting good points with me. Also I updated my TV schedule with premiere dates and apparently I'm watching 27 shows this year not counting the 10 or so new shows I'm checking out. Um, I'm crazy? Thank god I like it that way. And I'm so behind but apparently J.K Rowling is going to do a collection of short stories including something with Dumbledore/Grindelwald OMG YAY! I definitely want to learn more about my one remaining HP ship.

So I was thinking about how I'm just not very interested in the sports at the Olympics but then someone mentioned gymnastics and I was like YES THAT. That's what I want to watch! I love gymnastics, used to do it as a kid but got frustrated that I had to do floor and sometimes vault when I really just wanted to do bars and beam all day. I still would like to take it up again someday as I reeally liked doing the uneven bars. Apart from that and a little tennis, I'm mostly just going to be checking out random sports once and awhile. I'm rooting for USA of course but I'm always up for cheering for any countries and players who do a great job and make it fun to watch. And of course, I'll cheer more for teams from people who are on my Flist. So far the countries I've got are Canada, the UK, Australia, Belgium, Germany, France, New Zealand, Sweden, Spain...anyone on my Flist from somewhere else? I'm sure I'm forgetting some because I suck at thinking of things at the top of my head.

I watched a little of the So You Think You Can Dance finale and it was fun. I finally got to see the great Will who was wonderful. Mostly though I lamented the lack of m/m dances. I wondered if there ever was any until conveniently someone on my Flist answered my question with no unless you count the fight dances or whatnot. Cmon, there's gotta be another Prom scene out there someday! I do enjoy shows like American Idol and the dancing shows because I do love singing and dance but there's just not enough of a creative competition element like Project Runway. Plus I hate the America voting aspect because ultimately it usually ends up like political elections where I am left cursing half the population for having the bad sense to choose someone I don't like. Thank god the stakes are much lower. I'd rather just get mad at a few judges who at least are more qualified to judge than me.

Have I mentioned that my last external hard drive stopped working on my laptop? Works on other computers, just not mine. Argh. And it has all my Queer as Folk episodes on it! Not only can I not vid it but now when I'm in the mood for my B/J and pretty gay boy loving, I can't even watch it. Why is life so unfair? And to continue with the tech curse, three pairs of headphones (two cheap, one expensive), stopped working. The first two in a span of two days. It's ridiculous really.

So I went to Ithaca this weekend to visit [livejournal.com profile] lianri and did some shopping and found some great things! I'm excited. Project Runway has also influenced me way too much and I kept finding clothes that reminded me of Christian. I found one shirt that is *perfect* for Vividcon...except I won't be able to wear it til next year. Damn it. I love it LOTS though.

Speaking of Vividcon, only 4 more days! Eeeee. I'm caught up with Psych so now I only have to finish Smallville season 7 in four days. Totally doable, at least for me. I am so glad VVC is this weekend because the one thing that I want to go to second most in all the world, training with Jillian Michaels (and hanging out!) with a bunch of people from her site is that very same weekend. On the one hand, it sucks that it's at the same time but since there's no way I could afford it anyway, at least I won't spend a weekend at home being jealous. I'll be at Vividcon having an amazing time! In the end, VVC rules all.

One more day until Mad Men! Yes, I have been counting down days every single day this week. I am so easy sometimes.
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Lots of Little Things Part 1 [Jun. 11th, 2008|10:35 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , , , ]
[Current Music |"Not With You" by Tegan and Sara]
[Current Mood |chipper]

Okay lots of little things to talk about so I'm going to divide this up into two posts.

First a really important announcement if you haven't read it yet:

[livejournal.com profile] counteragent's little sister-in-law, Jenny, is very sick. It would be so wonderful if you could take a quick moment (just like 3 minutes) to check out her family's blog (http://jenjensfamily.blogspot.com/) and see if you think you might know anyone like Jenny. They are looking for "comparables" (people who have similar symptoms) that may have had success with treatments Jenny's docs haven't yet tried.

They would also really appreciate it if you post about this on your blog and thus help them spread the word.

Check out [livejournal.com profile] counteragent's vid that she made on her journal as well.

Book rec: Everyone should read and if you can, buy [livejournal.com profile] claudiagrays new book, Evernight for it is awesome! If you like vampires, definitely check it out but there is also great characters, romance, wonderful twists and great writing. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to read the sequels! I read it in one night as is my favorite way to read (and watch) things so that was fun.

A request: If you make icons, PLEASE label all your icons with your username/icon community. It makes it so much easier when saving icons to use for LJ later. In order to credit, I do type the names of icons but its annoying and I wish every iconmaker would make it easier for people to credit them. Also if you make fanmixes or provide music to download, PLEASE make zip files for people to download. I am lazy and don't have the time to click on every sendspace link or whatever so I usually skip it if it's in that format. It doesn't take long to zip a bunch of files and if someone doesn't want a file, they can just delete it. If you have a personal website, it doesn't apply as much. Which I really am going to get my website back soon, I hope.

On the computer front...more and more crappy tech issues keep coming up. Both of my hard drives stopped working after a year and a half and there is no hope of recovering them *sigh* So I lost 800 GB of space and 90% of my music collection, lots of DVD footage and all my episodes. Most can be redownloaded/reripped but it still sucks. I have sworn I won't buy another external hard drive until I can afford a 2 TB one because multiple hard drives are annoying but I at least have one left to rip dvds and download stuff too. My keyboard got fixed...but now it's not working again ARGH. The tech guy bought me a new DVD drive since that didn't work (I paid for it) but then couldn't install it and in the process has messed up my sound so now sometimes its all staticy and weird. Why universe, WHY?

Plus now I have to buy a new external dvd drive and can't start vidding the Premiere vid until Friday. So I now have two weeks to get that all done...going to be a race against time. We'll see if that gets done. Thank god for shortness and knowing what I want in terms of clips. It's not a big deal if I don't finish it like last year, I just REALLY want to have a vid at Premieres. Plus I think it'll challenge me and push me past my usual style so I hope I can finish it.

If you ever wanted to see a list of Stargate Atlantis vids to download, here's a good one. So many amazing ones for this fandom. Another Sunday is a MUST for anyone, I don't care if you've never seen the show before. One word: sparkles.

VID REC: Sexy Back by [livejournal.com profile] dayln03. This is a Brian vid from Queer as Folk to a song that's been used a lot but it is sooo beautifully edited and proves once and for all that Brian is the sexiest guy alive so it totally works. I love this vid so, so much.

I apologize in advance for the spam but it's not like I post all that much anyways.
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Canon bitches, ie the one where I flail over House/Wilson some more [May. 12th, 2008|04:21 pm]

anoel
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[Current Music |"Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne]
[Current Mood |full of anticipation]

So while I'm waiting anxiously for tonight's House (eeeeeeee four more hours!), here's my belated commentary on Don't Ever Change (there will never be enough exclamation points and capslock to contain my glee).

Spoilers for House 412: Don't Ever Change )
I don't know if these are considered spoilers but just to be safe:

Brief Thoughts on the two episode titles for the next two House episodes )

Also a House/Wilson vid rec that fills me with love: Girlfriend by [livejournal.com profile] mystictwilight. The song is hilariously addictive and it really just had to be done. The graphic is perfect and a nice little You Put Me There shout out/demonstration. It's all in good fun. Anyways I love how fast moving the vid is that fits well with the music, the effects that work with the song/concept, the repeated parallels and expressions and the priceless lyric and clip matchings. It's all so much fun and all her vids fill me with H/W squee and joy (she did the amazing If We Shadows Have Offended, House/Dead Poet's Society crossover as well).

Also I've been listening to some House/Wilson podfic (which I love btw) and I found an amazing one that works the best for me as a podfic versus a fic. Love is a Battlefield", written by [livejournal.com profile] starlingthefool is just amazing. I love how she captures the characters' voices, the hilariously brilliant concept, the MUSIC and how ridiculously romantic it all is. Mmmm it was so much fun and so much happy bouncy goodnes to listen to this and it kept getting better all the way through. As always, fic/podfic recs are appreciated.

OMG 30 minutes left!
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Vid Rec and Rewatching Shows [Nov. 24th, 2007|01:59 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , , ]
[Current Music |"The Sound of Violence (Dancefloor Killa Remix)" by Cassius]
[Current Mood |hot]

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great day full of reasons to be thankful. I've been feeling rather laconic and withdrawn lately so I haven't had much to say lately although I have a bunch of posts to make at some point. I truly am thankful to be here in the greatest place on earth, California (for me) and to have family, friends and the wonderful joys of TV and fandom. Don't know where I'd be without all that.

For now though, I have a vid rec for a vid I'm completely in love with! When I heard [livejournal.com profile] buffyann was watching and loving Queer as Folk and specifically Brian/Justin, I was ecstatic (I believe my exact words were "We got Buffyann! We got Buffyann!"). And today she finally released a vid for the show! The vid is When the Sun Goes Down, Brian/Justin, Club Vivid style with lots of fast paced, amazing editing with the most beautiful, hottest clips out there of my favorite ship. I haven't seen a vid this hot since Danger by [livejournal.com profile] f1renze. Beautiful use of motion that mesmerizes you into the wonderful world of the show. Also, two boys kissing and loving will never not be hot. I am a slasher at heart and always will be. *rewatches vid over and over*

I watched Enchanted the other day and enjoyed it a lot but it made me wish for a gay fairytale movie to come out. Probably will take it awhile but that would definitely make me happy to see. Sometimes I really wish there was a lot more shows like QaF out there where the default wasn't straight and slashers wouldn't even have to slash, it would just be there. I will keep wishing!

I finished my rewatch of Veronica Mars S1 today. Wow, that show will always emotionally get to me so well. Oh Veronica and Lily <3. I only wish the show had stayed at the same level for S2 and S3. It's nice getting to rewatch shows that I usually am too busy to. I'm rewatching House (or at least everything that has House, Wilson or Cuddy in it) in order to take clip notes (so boring but worth it!) for it and it definitely has some wonderful quotes and OTP and OT3 scenes. The end of 105 in particular is adorable :) House/Wilson just totally own my heart. It's funny how I've been adoring Wilson even more these days to the point where I almost wish the show was all about him. Are there any good Wilson vids out there that aren't too shippy? In any case, it's so nice to see Wilson actually get screen time that doesn't take place thirty minutes into an episode. In fact, a lot of the time he gets the very first scene. It just shows how important he really is, at least back in the day. Same with Cuddy who didn't get any of the screen time she deserved last week in an episode all about her. At least watching the first season is letting me see and enjoy House, Wilson and Cuddy so I can get my filling of them.

These Christmas sales are waaay too tempting when I don't have the money for it. I want so many TV shows on DVD! Not to mention the big screen TV and 1 TB external hard drive (it's for vidding!). Ah well, someday...
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A few links and The Wire [Sep. 19th, 2007|11:19 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Music |"It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" by Dead Prez]
[Current Mood |impressed]

First some links:

Sweet Charity: Fandom auction where you can bid on fic, graphics, vids, apparel and other things in order to get that idea you've always wanted made. There are over 200 people for sale offering their talents and the form is searchable by fandom in order to find people who are offering your fandom. Already it's raised $9000 dollars for RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest Network) and last year it raised over 10,000. But don't be scared by that price, you can still get good deals on talented fans. The auction ends on September 22nd (be sure to check the times as its GMT) so be sure to get your bids in by then! If that doesn't enourage you: ...it's for charity. And I consider myself a great philanderer.

Character Study Challenge: In LJ a lot of times characters get ignored in favor of relationships. [livejournal.com profile] bop_radar is hosting a Character Study challenge and there is a long list of prompts for characters on a diverse list of shows. All fanworks from fic, vids, meta and fanart are accepted so if you're looking for inspiration you have plenty of prompts (of which some are my own) to choose from. Submissions are due by October 6th.

Vid Rec: Only Disappear: This is a Due South vid, Fraser/Victoria. You may think after seeing Icebound Stream, you don't need to see another Fraser/Victoria vid but this one is beautifully done and deserves to be watched. It uses all the great imagery those two episodes provided along with great facial expressions to really make your heart break for Fraser as well as Victoria. It does a great job of matching the music and visuals as well. I haven't had the time to see a lot of vidders work that I don't know but I'm so glad I watched this one. Leave feedback if you can!

I had a lot of plans for the last two days since I have them off. However they all fell away when I started watching The Wire. I've finished the first season in two days (all 13 hour long episodes) because I could not stop watching. This is definitely the best show fandom isn't watching. Technically it's a cop show but unlike most cop shows it's not episodic and has a season long storyline that is wonderfully spread out to keep you watching to find out what happens. It also includes the perspective of the drug dealers and drug addicts the police are trying to stop which gives it a big layer and is much more interesting because of it. It's very realistic and doesn't stay away from showing the *bad* in all people as well as the good. Plus the diversity of the cast is amazing and much more realistic than most shows set in big cities (Baltimore is a very real character in the show). Somehow you become really connected to the characters without knowing it which gives you a great emotional aspect to the show.

And perhaps most impressive it doesn't give easy answers or happy Hollywood endings. I watched it in part for the social commentary it provides and I'm mainly really looking forward to season 4 with the education theme. David Simon and Ed Burns have a lot of experience in Baltimore and with the many players in the city and do a great job of seeing a lot of sides of the issues and giving it a true to life feel. David in a commentary described the show as about the American city which interests me especially going to LA (in November!!). I am just so impressed at how GOOD the show is and would highly recommend it to everyone. It may not be your cup of tea but the pilot alone (the whole thing as half of it failed to hook me a few months back) needs to be checked out.
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Life On Mars Series Finale [Sep. 6th, 2007|11:52 pm]

anoel
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[Current Music |"Life on Mars" by David Bowie]
[Current Mood |high]

Wow. Best. Ending. Ever. It deserves its own post because of the AWESOME. I had heard of its greatness and it definitely lived up to it.

Life On Mars Spoilers to the Series Finale (208) )

Now my question is: where are the Life on Mars S2 vids??? I haven't seen any and that's ridiculous. Although there was a total shout out to [livejournal.com profile] sdwolfpup's awesome Fast Cars vid in an interview LoM finale spoiler ). I definitely recommend this series to everyone. It's just so *good*.

After Changes and Life on Mars, I really need to catch up on all of David Bowie's music.
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More Vid Recs from Vividcon [Aug. 20th, 2007|10:10 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Music |"Signal to Noise" by Peter Gabriel]
[Current Mood |working]

So here's my complete list of some of my favorite vids from Vividcon. These are not the only good vids from the con but the ones that stick out to me whether because of originality, emotion, movement or favorite show.

Vogue (300) by [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett: This is a memorizing vid that uses split screen, motion with sped up/slowed down footage and color to beautiful effect. Also, there are pretty, pretty men. A must watch no matter if you've seen the movie or not. Female gaze, FTW!
Women's Work (Supernatural) by [livejournal.com profile] sisabet and [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett: This is the part of the Supernatural that most people would like to ignore. The visual treatment of women on the show can be disturbing and offensive to watch all at once but it's all from the show and vidded with the greatness you can expect with these two vidders. A feminist vid that really needs to be seen and thought about no matter your conclusions.
Snakes on a Plane (Harry Potter) by [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny: The song choice makes the vid with all the awesome snake imagery in Harry Potter and little!Harry having to grow up to face the world. Hilarious clip choices and fantastic use of motion. Another great Harry Potter vid, yay!
Want (Supernatural) by [livejournal.com profile] destina: Deliciously dark and sexy evil point of view vid with the lyrics fitting incredibly well. Visually this vid is stunning with distinctive images, overlays, parallels and motion. And taken from fandom's pov, it only gets better.
Sugar (Smallville) by [livejournal.com profile] keewick: I never thought I'd see the day a good vid about Lana would premiere at Vividcon but this one completely blew me away. It shows Lana's relationships with Whitney, Clark and Lex and why she's with with them. The imagery is incredibly beautiful and the song choice is perfect for all the different aspects in her life.
West of Her Spine (Dexter) by [livejournal.com profile] sweetestdrain: Incredibly disturbing in a very, very good way. The music has the underlying dark edge to it that works for a great twist in the point of view character showing both the true and false sides to his soft sides. A unique and very affecting Dexter vid.
Martina (Veronica Mars) by [livejournal.com profile] keewick: I was so excited to see a VM vid and this one did not disappoint at all. Also, I totally guessed this one was by Keely and I suck at guessing but the distinctive song choice and quick cutting with emotional impact gave it away for me. It explores the rape arcs on Veronica Mars with frightening images as well as the way Veronica stays strong throughout it. The clicks of shoes walking and the internal motion in this particularly win me over.
Beethoven's Fifth of Gold Digger (Gone With The Wind) by [livejournal.com profile] absolutedestiny: You would not expect Kanye West's Goldigger to work with the movie but it does somehow. I love the cutting and the great clip-lyric matches especially. The underlying gender and race issues are interesting as well which [livejournal.com profile] absolutedestiny talks about in his LJ.
Filthy Mind (Multifandom) by [livejournal.com profile] sol_se: So many amazing parallels between shows in this vid. If you vid three rains of bloods, I am almost guarenteed to love the vid. Not to mention Faith and Sam (from Life on Mars) dancing. The cutting is great either quickly pulling you into all the great associations or lingering on the best ones as well as the motions all moving right into one another. Very, very cool.
Nothing New (Firefly) by [livejournal.com profile] heresluck: Oh, MAL. A beautiful, heartbreaking look at the Mal/Inara relationship with perfect song choice (as usual) and such pretty motion. If the last clip doesn't break your heart, there's nothing I can do to help you.

More vid recs under the cut )

Speaking of Baltar, when I first watch Battlestar Galactica, I hated him. I thought he was scum of the earth who deserved to die horribly. But then I stopped taking him seriously. Now I see him as funny and enjoy him from a distance. I even have a bit of a fondness for him. It definitely helps me enjoy the show more.

I have all the VVC discs burned on my computer now so I have a great playlist with all of them plus the auction vids. It's lots of fun to listen to and go back and watch. I collected a bunch of vid discs from Vividcon including 2004 Premieres (which I'm SO happy to have), [livejournal.com profile] heresluck's vids (she's currently taking orders for them here), [livejournal.com profile] greensilver and [livejournal.com profile] cherryice's vids, [livejournal.com profile] morgandawn and friends' vids, [livejournal.com profile] gwyn_r and friends' vids and [livejournal.com profile] absolutedestiny's vids. And [livejournal.com profile] melina123's vid DVD should be coming soon. Not a bad collection along with my VVC2005, VVC2006, Bascon and Escapade discs. I love seeing vids on TV and high quality on my computer.

I finished Stargate Atlantis! I enjoyed it except for Spoiler for 3x17 Sunday ) Still in love with Rodney and excited for next season. I hope they continue to make more character focused episodes and 3-D villians.

I cannot wait for The Office DVDs come out! I probably won't finish my vids for the show until after they do so I can have shiny DVD vids. My plan to begin trying to vid everyday is stalled at the moment as I try to finish VVC stuff but I really hope I can start soon. My New Year's resolution was to "Vid More. Vid Better." so I'm hoping actively trying to make vidding a habit will help with the first part. I have 10 vids I'd like to finish by the end of the year or at least by January so we'll see how that goes.
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Finished Doctor Who! [Aug. 20th, 2007|01:17 am]

anoel
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood |chipper]
[Current Music |"Moons of Jupiter" by Scruffy the Cat]

Well I had to finish before [livejournal.com profile] kitkatbyte ;) But OMFG THE LAST THREE EPISODES!!!!

Best three parter EVER.

Spoilers Through Last of the Time Lords )

If you had a DW post that I missed when the episodes first came out, link me to it!

And if you haven't seen [livejournal.com profile] fan_eunice's glorious video, Moons of Jupiter, an adorable Doctor Who video featuring many, many hugs than I highly recommend seeing it. It's cute and bouncy with wonderful timing and fun Ten movement. Basically, it is love.

Still kind of stuck on VVC con reports and vid feedback but hopefully will be able to get to it soon. I swore to myself that this year I would actually get it all done. I just...miss Vividcon and the wild excitement that it brought that helped with my motivation to get all the writing and stuff done. Is it next August yet?
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My heart is very full at this moment. [Aug. 14th, 2007|06:55 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |satisfied]
[Current Music |vids, what else?]

Home at last! Very, very tired but happy with my con experience. After last year, I thought my expectations would be too high but this year Vividcon was even better and more insanely awesome. I got to see so many wonderful people again as well as meet some great new people. And the vid programming was awesome whether it was filled with Club Vivid premieres and nostalgic favorites, vid talk in panels and room parties, Vid Karaoke with hilarious and fun favorites, Premieres with a ton of new amazing vids and the vid mashup party which was too funny for words. Mostly I just love being with people who love vids all the time, who *get* it. YAY Vividcon!

My new Premieres vid will be up in a little while. It seemed to go over well :) My personal favorites of the con were:

Rodeohead (Firefly) by [livejournal.com profile] absolutedestiny which kept getting better showing all aspects of the show and movie with a song that was made for the show. The motion in this vid was particularly amazing and I really enjoyed all the funny and heartwarming moments.

Another Sunday (SGA) by [livejournal.com profile] jescaflowne which is the most perfect cheese and vid for SGA that you will ever see. It captures why I love the show so perfectly and makes me burst out laughing too many times to count. The effects are earth blowing up fantastic.

Jesus for the Jugular (Carnivale) by [livejournal.com profile] obsessive24 blew me away with the haunting visuals, stunning motion and interesting connections being made. I really need to see this show now.

Tragedy (BtVS) by [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny Spike! In his true Lord King Bad Vid fashion, he stole the show with this hilarious vid. The effects on it only make it better and the images chosen are too perfect. The vid is just love.

Best Dundies VIVIDCON Ever!
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Sci-fi shows, Vid rec, Vid Feedback and VIVIDCON!!! [Aug. 1st, 2007|09:30 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood |bouncy]
[Current Music |"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" by The Blues Brothers]

So it's been awhile since my last post. I've been feeling rather uncommunicative lately (read: lazy) and working a lot hasn't exactly made me feel very motivated to post. Instead I have desperately been trying to catch up with Stargate Atlantis and Doctor Who by VIVIDCON (!!). I'm on SGA 2x17 and Doctor Who 2x09 and I've got to finish the third seasons of both so I don't get spoiled in one week. Sadly I have given up on Life on Mars (but I have 4 episodes left so it's still possible!) and Farscape (which I will watch right after VVC) but I still have a little bit of hope for LotR which I'm a bad fan for not reading/watching yet. So far I have found five reasons to watch SGA:

1. Rodney McKay
2. Vids
3. Rodney
4. McKay/Sheppard (I finally saw the white room episode! And the end scene in Trinity is made of squee)
5. Have I mentioned Rodney?

The geek love of Rodney is very strong not to mention the cuteness, paranoia, sarcasm, (earned) arrogance and many other things. I absolutely loved Duet if only because of laughing so much and the kiss (!!!). In terms of Doctor Who, Ten has been growing on me with all his cuteness. I do adore the Ten/Rose friendship although I like their relationship nice and platonic. I really enjoy how the romantic relationship is almost like slash in that it's there if you want to see it but not there if you don't. I still find both shows plots rather sci-fi procedural (although SGA does have a benefit of the Wraith series arc) and thus boring at times but hey, I've managed House, Due South and Supernatural so I'm dealing with it. Doctor Who sometimes suffers from this the worst but I was very surprised and happy by School Reunion which was awesome not only because there was GILES (which I squeed about for the first five minutes and at various times in the show) but there was lots of emotional resonance and contained the things I enjoy most about DW: discussion about what it means to be the Doctor and having to always be alone. Plus, robot dog! And I actually recognized Sarah Jane as an old companion (I think it was [livejournal.com profile] settai's posts) so that was a great idea to bring her back. I'm building a lot of high expectations for next season with everything I hear about Martha and the Master and I'm worried that I should tone it down. So I have two questions for Doctor Who fans:

[Poll #1031921]

So first I have a vid rec that makes me completely happy, gleeful and full of love today. [livejournal.com profile] makesmewannadie won [livejournal.com profile] halcyon_shift for Sweet Charity and got her to make Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, a multifandom video that contains some of the most happiest, cutest scenes from a variety of TV shows. If you ever need something to cheer up your day, this is it. It's a love letter to fandom and to me shows how much I love it from the shows to the ships to the people. And I have to say the Heroes clip is the most perfect thing that ever was perfect. Go watch and leave feedback!

Speaking of vid feedback, I am finally feeling ready to do it. Problem is I have a huge backlog and I'm not sure where to begin. So if you want me to give you feedback on any vid(s) that you've done, comment to this post and I'll comment on your vid. Being a perfectionist at heart, it usually takes at least a paragraph. I just love letting people know how much I appreciate their work and finding out new vids so feedback will be great for that.

I can't believe next week is VIVIDCON OMG! I will be getting to the hotel around 11:30 or 12 on Thursday and am leaving Monday night so hopefully that will give me plenty of time to hang out with everyone. I'm so excited now that the schedule is up even though once again I'm tempted to only go to panels (I mean, Why vid? Hip Hop Vidding!!!, Vid Structure, HOW VIDS WORK=sooo good) but I hope to make it to a few vidshows. Maybe even some parts of Nearly New if there are some premiering vids and to see my vid in it. Also I've actually made a list of every person whose attending in terms of their LJ names (and a few non) with the help of various posts and polls so now I'll actually be able to recognize more people. And to anyone who's going, I'm always happy to talk to anyone about anything from vids to RL as I'm always looking to meet new people (and old!) who love vids. It should be fun no matter how nervous I am with a vid premiering and even seeing people again is always a bit nervewracking when my shy tendencies start to come out. But Vividcon is always worth it and after having the time of my life last year, I hope this year is just as good, if not better. One more week!

P.S. I swear I will finish the Stockbridge, Harry Potter and Torchwood posts I have yet to make. In the meantime, I have enjoyed reading my Flist's comments on HP and everything else as usual!

ETA: Also, courtesy of [livejournal.com profile] lianri, I have a Heroes vid idea! And I figured out a way to make it visually interesting so I'm all excited now :D And if anyone wants to rec me any kind of Hiro or Hiro/Ando vid, it'd make me very happy.
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Dementors like in Harry Potter? [Jul. 12th, 2007|10:23 pm]

anoel
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[Current Music |"All That I Am" by Rob Thomas]
[Current Mood |peaceful]

So I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday. I had refreshed my movie knowledge by rewatching the 3rd and 4th movies the last two days. First I have to say I am a book purist. In my opinion, everything in the movie should match the books *exactly* no matter how long it takes. That's why I wish they made a Harry Potter TV show that did that as I'm sure it'd be successful with its guaranteed viewers. Plus it would be awesome for vidding. Anyways, I know it's unrealistic so I'm okay with things being left out of the book if it's not important and little scenes or character dialogue to explain things that were left out/slightly changed is okay. But I hate, HATE when they add scenes that don't do anything special the book doesn't do (so a book scene would have easily sufficed). Usually the dialogue is crap and/or doesn't match the characters and most importantly it takes away time from scenes that ARE important. Big changes to plot, character and making action scenes way too long are more things that get me riled up.

Harrry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie Spoilers )

Now here's my top 10 list of Harry Potter characters:
1. Lupin - I love how inspiring a teacher he is, smart and understanding with his perfect diplomatic way of interacting with people.
2. Snape - I love how deliciously bad he can be but still be intelligent, his crappy past makes me love and forgive him all the more and I am incredibly intrigued by him and his motives.
3. Dumbledore - I love his wisdom, his belief in second changes and his delight in the fun, small things in life.
4. Hermione - It's hard for me not to love a perfectionist bookworm with a belief in equality and who tries to do the right thing.
5. Fred and George Weasley - I love how they make me laugh and provide humor into any situation. And they are awesome.
6. Arthur Weasley - I love his childlike wonder at all the Muggle creations as well as his protective side.
7. Mad Eye Moody - Fake or real, he's hilarious with his paranoia and great take downs of *evil* wizards.
8. Neville - I'm impressed with how much he's grown from lack of confidence to couragous in helping his friends and using his skills in Herbology. He reminds me of Pam in his growth.
9. Harry Potter - I truly admire Harry for trying so hard when he's had the worst of both worlds and taking the weight of the world onto his shoulders.
10. Oliver Wood - I adore his love of Quidditch at all costs. He's too funny.

Now to me it seems like everyone loves Sirius while I've never really understood why. The childhood idea of him at first seems cool but besides that I don't get it. So if you love Sirius, let me know why. I do like him and the same with Sirius/Remus but I've never understood why people go crazy over it. In terms of ships, I try to not get too attached to anything as Harry Potter is a smorgas board of amazing fic and other fannish stuff out there. The only thing that's definite it is I hate Harry/Hermione romantically (LOVE them platonically) but I'm pretty sure JK's not going there so I don't see it as much of a threat, just something that gets more fannish focus than I'd think. I actually kind of like Remus/Severus not just because they're my favorites but because I think it's interesting whether they could ever get past the bad of their pasts and find forgiveness in each other. Plus Lupin's the only one beside Dumbledore that could deal with Snape (heh). But hey, if you like Sirius/Remus, feel free to enlighten me on why you love the pairing so much as although I do like the deep friendship, I've never seen the romantic dynamic between them. But in Harry Potter fandom, anything goes :)

Oh and if you haven't seen [livejournal.com profile] wistful_fever's Harry Potter vid, The Boy Was a Puppet, go watch it! It's amazing with the effects, song choice and great clip choice showing Harry's struggles really well. It impresses me everytime I watch it. Oh, Harry. I'm always open to more HP vid recs as well.
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I know everything about film. I've seen over 240 of them. [Jul. 3rd, 2007|09:25 pm]

anoel
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[Current Mood |morose]
[Current Music |"Lullaby" by Trout Fishing in America]

First Happy Belated Birthday to [livejournal.com profile] norwich36, [livejournal.com profile] makesmewannadie, [livejournal.com profile] tamalinn and [livejournal.com profile] ficbyzee! I hope you all had great days and a wonderful year to come.

So today was my movie catch up day. I've been feeling kind of meh about movies lately as TV shows better suit me. The best way I can explain it is it takes too long for me to get into movies and once I do, they're practically over. Whereas with TV, while it might take me a little while to get into a show, once I do I have a lot more of the show to fall in love with. But I do love when I see high quality movies which I've been doing lately except for Evan Almighty. But I was only seeing that for Steve and seeing all the Michaelisms and ultimate cuteness and squeeing over Steve made it all worth it. I don't think the movie is as bad as the critics say it is, it was fun and cool to see on the big screen and I did love the animals and laughed enough to make it a comedy movie for me. And I didn't think the religion was too much so it worked for me. The other night I saw Little Miss Sunshine again which has become my third favorite movie (behind Serenity and Brokeback Mountain). For me it's the perfect comfort movie; whenever I'm feeling particularly emotional I watch it and it makes me feel better about life and just happy with the universe. I would actually love to see a good vid to it one of these days.

So today I saw three amazing movies. The first was a classic, Casablanca which I have never seen and which needed to be remedied stat. I really enjoyed it, took me awhile to get into as usual but the narrative was absolutely wonderful. And the end made me ever so happy with the two guys walking into the sunset...mmm slash. Then I watched Memento which blew my mind with how cool it was, how interesting and unique it was in terms of narrative. Lots of Matrix people which always helps too.

And I finally saw Dead Poet's Society which...WOW. Now I know why everyone was crying over Lullaby at Vividcon. First the movie broke me and then that vid did multiple times. I had seen half of the movie last August but again had a hard time getting into it. This time it was much easier especially with seeing kid!Wilson who completely won me over with his enthusiasm and adorable relationship with Todd. To anyone who hasn't seen the movie, I HIGHLY recommend it. It really teaches you to make something out of your life, to be a non-conformist no matter the cost, no BECAUSE of the cost and it's really a great story for any person who has ever been a student or teacher (I assume that's everyone. It rocketed up to number four on my favorite list of movies and I think it shares some similarities with Little Miss Sunshine with them both being about people pursuing their dreams no matter what society thinks and especially with the amazingly well acted heartwrenching scenes of Dwayne and Todd. So go watch it!

Links:
Life As We Know It - Second City - Ryan Stiles AND Steve Carell together in their younger days makes me ridiculously happy. They're so cute!
Unaired Colin kisses Ryan sketch on Whose Line - I may have died in happiness watching this clip over and over when I first saw it. What makes it even better than the first purely Colin initiated kiss is the "worked together for 20 years" and "Oh who am I kidding" right before it. Just so awesome and it fills my romantic heart with glee.

Everyone's been posting a ton about Doctor Who but I'm finding it still hard to get into the show in the second current season. My problem with it is it's all stand alones and I only like the Docter and Rose so it's hard for me to get into watching it. I will by Vividcon though. Oh and I changed my page layout a bit mostly to use a new Office header which has some of my favorite Dundies scenes in it. Still my favorite Office episode, of course.
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*collapses onto myself like a dying star* [Jul. 2nd, 2007|12:09 am]

anoel
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[Current Music |Richard Ashcroft]
[Current Mood |tired]

So I finished my Premieres vid for Vividcon. Been working on it almost nonstop the last three days but it's finally done :)

I'm addicted to stress
That's the way that I get things done
If I'm not under pressure then I sleep too long
And I hang around like a bum


This has been my theme song while working on it by playing the hilarious and awesome vid: Stress (Stargate, Rodney) on repeat. The facial expressions and movements crack me up. It definitely helps. I never want to be under this much stress or deadline pressure again though. Anyways now I can finally get some vid feedback done because I really need a break from vidding for awhile.

Is it August yet?
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Well, you always left me satisfied and smiling (TWSS!) [Jun. 20th, 2007|11:32 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Music |"Bukowski" by Modest Mouse]
[Current Mood |calm]

The main reason for this post is to give a big Happy Birthday to [livejournal.com profile] keewick and [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny! Not only are you two amazing vidders but also super cool and kind people that I have the pleasure of knowing :) Also a Happy Belated Birthday to [livejournal.com profile] messyjessie58 and [livejournal.com profile] mizzmeow! I hope you both had a wonderful and special day.

I have been in a House/Wilson loving mood lately after rewatching the H/W parts of Sex Kills to House vs. God (LOVE that episode) not to mention Babies & Bathwater. I had forgotten how freaking hilarious this show is especially when you remove the boring medical crap. And also, so very, very slashy. Oh and I finally got a chance to see Inside the Actor's Studio with Huge Laurie and I almost died with love for him. Not to mention the House/Wilson "I'm game" squeeage, my problems with the question aside (she should have only asked the first question and left it at that). At the moment, I think the show should stick with subtext for the three main couples (how awesome is it that H/W is actually a main couple) or go out and do all three. Less with the dating and more with crazy affairs to see how House handles relationships. I would even be okay with House/Cameron if they gave House/Wilson the same treatment although I know that would never happen. I just love how the show looks into character issues, that's a big reason why I'm watching it.

I've actually been reading some amazing fic for them and loving it especially Gentle Implosions by [livejournal.com profile] elynross that completely blows me away and reminds me why I read fanfic again. I highly recommend it. If you have any House/Wilson amazing fic recs for me, now's the time to let me know. And also I found a House vid I enjoyed by [livejournal.com profile] kuwdora here that has some great internal motion matching the music and a great song choice because House is definitely a universal cynic.

Still working on the Premieres vid and I keep getting work done it and then hitting a brick wall. I had forgotten how hard vidding can be when you're not sure how best to communicate something to the audience and whether its any good or not. Vidding is hard. </ whine>

ETA: But then I do it again and everything falls into place and it's SO MUCH FUN. Vidding <3

Steve was so awesome and hilarious on The Daily Show. And Captain Jack was there! Hee. I watched Sexual Harassment last night and surprised myself at how much I laughed throughout it. The Office is a show that never gets old no matter how many times you watch it.

Sorry to end on a negative note but this news story about a sickening hate crime makes me so sad. The depressing fact is that there's barely any press about it. Sometimes I really don't understand the world.
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Summer TV [Jun. 9th, 2007|12:46 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood |peaceful]
[Current Music |"Maybe Tomorrow" by The Stereophonics]

So here's my list of shows to watch and/or catch up on this summer with strikes through the ones I've done already:

Veronica Mars, Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, Scrubs, Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Gilmore Girls, The Office UK, Torchwood, Life on Mars, Farscape, The X-Files, Stargate Atlantis and Doctor Who before Vividcon. Possibly How I Met Your Mother. Does it get any better? Because I watched the first episode and found it very unfunny although I did like Barney. Maybe Frasier, Wonderfalls, Ugly Betty, Dead Like Me and Smallville if I can handle it. Are there any shows I should add if I don't want to be very spoiled at Vividcon this year? I usually watch shows based on whether they're high quality (the higher the better), the number of vids to it (extra points for really good ones) that I need context for, general fandom interest (so I don't have to skip as many episode posts) and personal interest (procedurals are mostly out ie CSI, Law and Order, Bones as are reality shows ie American Idol). Any other TV recs?

I'm also planning to marathon some shows with a friend to get her to watch some high quality television. So I may be rewatching Firefly, Buffy, Angel, Arrested Development, Heroes and possibly Veronica Mars S1 if I can. Yeah that's a lot of TV but I doubt we'll make it through all of it. The trinity of Whedon shows plus AD is a necessary in quality TV IMO. And there's always fun rewatchings of The Office :)

I always like to hold a vid over my head to reward myself for finishing a show. I finished Dexter tonight which was amazing and I encourage everyone to watch. Not only are the visuals absolutely stunning but the narrative is interesting and it makes you care about the characters even if they are serial killers. Sounds crazy but true. So I finally got to watch [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett's vid Blood Fugue which is just as amazing as usual and a definite rec. I also finished Gilmore Girls S5 so I got to see [livejournal.com profile] obsessive24's Maybe Tomorrow here which is Christopher/Lorelai but even if you're a Luke/Lorelai shipper (I'm both) you should still watch it. It makes a static show *move* and is full of heart, cool parallels and great building with the music.

I saw Steve Carell on The Tonight Show tonight *squee* How is it possible for one man to be so funny, cute and smart? I usually just catch actors appearances on youtube but it was definitely worth it to watch him. I really can't wait til Evan Almighty. I still can't believe I met him, it's like a dream. Which speaking of, I had a dream where I finally met John Krasinski since he's the only one I haven't seen yet. I got to have a conversation with Creed and Melora too. I will definitely be at the Office convention in October and at Melora's show in LA in January. I can't wait! I went to my cousin's house this weekend and survived my first 24 hours without internet in a looong time but the best part is we went past Scranton twice and the second time we stopped in the city. My parents and I went to the Mall at Steamtown and I saw Victoria's Secret, ate a Auntie Anne's Pretzel (like Kelly) and got a bunch of pictures in front of the Welcome to Scranton sign. The only bad part is I couldn't find Poor Richard's Pub. Yeah, I'm a total Office fangirl and proud of it :)
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[Apr. 21st, 2007|02:05 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Mood |awake]

So I was having kind of a crappy day yesterday with the raining reflecting my mood. I was just tired, sick of school, dealing with issues with friends and not feeling that good about myself. On days like that I just wish something good would happen to me. And it did! I got a surprise package in the mail of all 7 seasons of Buffy (the collectors edition) which I had ordered from Amazon (a few hours before they sold out thankfully) with that special $100 deal they had which I wasn't expecting til next week. So now I am so happy to have so many wonderful episodes on DVD in my possession. I can vid them at anytime now too :) I've been planning to go back and rewatch S2-3 but I've decided to go back and watch the entire series along with the extras. Slowly this time, not in a month or so. I saw the pilot yesterday and it was just so cute. They're all so cute when they were young! And I remembered why I love Willow *hearts them all* It's funny how I remember clips from being in Scooby Road and other videos.

I've been rewatching some Whose Line episodes and it's making me fall in love with Ryan and Colin all over again. Especially Greatest Hits. I love how connected they are in that game, how well they work as a team, how they imitate each other and yet play off one another, the adoring looks they give each other, the banter, the happiness from just being with each other and of course I can't forget the beautiful dancing scene the game led to. Meant to be indeed. I have this perfect romantic song I listen to and that makes me feel so overwhelmed with love for them everytime I hear it.

People who reference The Office make me so happy. First we have Ryan Stiles in his interview mentioning Steve Carell and The Office Interview quotes under the cut ) So did Steve Carell actually end up on a Whose Line? Because if he did, I must see it immediatly. It's so awesome he worked with Ryan though, although I knew they were all in Second City, it's so cool they actually worked together. And referencing Michael trying to do improv was perfect. Yay for fandoms colliding! Also Peter Casey who co-created and help wrote Frasier was talking at my school last Monday and he said the only show he was watching was The Office and that he loved it. So that made me happy.

The things about The Office that has never really happened to me before is that I want everyone to watch it. Unless you have a HUGE embarassment squick (and even then, trying out one S2/S3 episode would be nice), I believe that everyone should watch at least the first 7 episodes of S2 to give it a chance to see if they like it. Because it makes me sad that some people have not had the chance to fall in love with the show and the characters and everything about it. I mean, it used to be me! I could have had a year and a half of loving the show if I had known about it sooner. So I do try to tell people about the show, I'm going to be working on my family this summer and I let people borrow my precious DVDs just to get them to watch it. I will gladly do a lot of things for people if they would watch the show because I really believe it is that good. The quality of the show is so high and my love for the characters is so great that I want to support the show with everything I can.

Office thoughts, no spoilers )

Quick Supernatural Hollywood Babylon thoughts behind the cut )

The Office vid rec: My current favorite Jim/Pam vid is The Denial Twist. It makes the S3 angst not angsty in a really good way and the motion and fast cutting in it is absolutely amazing. I think the denial in both Jim and Pam is a big part of their relationship so the song choice really works for me. Highly recommended.
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Vid Rec and Spring Break [Apr. 2nd, 2007|11:47 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Music |"Come Undone" by Duran Duran]
[Current Mood |impressed]
[Current Location |Minnesota]

So [livejournal.com profile] obsessive24 has been talking about doing a Brian/Justin vid for awhile now and I've been dying to see what she would do with it. She finally posted it and it is AMAZING! Absolutely stunning use of color and motion not to mention a heartbreakingly perfect portrayl of the B/J relationship and Brian's psyche. So go download here!

Thank god for Spring Break :D

1. First on Friday I met Colin and Brad, waited outside the stage door with some other fans and they came out and I got both their autographs, a picture with both of them (will post it online soon) and I talked briefly to both of them saying I loved Whose Line and their performances. Extra bonus I talked with Colin (*squee*) and asked him if he was going to perform with Ryan again anytime soon. He said Ryan was in semi-professional retirement to which I said he was performing with Greg, Jeff and Chip. He said he was mostly in the Northwest and since he hated flying (my reply: I know) that it was hard. But he did say maybe. So take that as you will.

2. I'm now in Minneapolis and after a rocky start, things are going well. I saw the Mall of America which is HUGE and sooo cool to have roller coasters in it. Best idea ever. Also it was great to see [livejournal.com profile] jackiekjono and [livejournal.com profile] lapillus again, both who are super nice and awesome. Currently I'm with [livejournal.com profile] heresluck who basically wins at life for being so generous and amazing. It's great spending time with fans :)

3. Only three more days until The Office! I an seriously dyng for new episodes here.
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Vidding Question Responses [Feb. 11th, 2007|08:41 pm]

anoel
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[Current Music |vid playlist]

I got 12 hours of sleep last night! I slept til 11 AM :) This is cause for celebration since I haven't been able to wake up after 9 or get to sleep before 10. So I'm very thankful to be well rested now.

Vid rec: [livejournal.com profile] obsessive24's Blindfold here. Angel/Fred and absolutely beautiful. The vid itself got me into vidding mode again with the motion, powerful images and interesting ideas. I am just so in love with motion *watches motion playlist*

So I finally finished writing down my responses to [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett's vidding questions.

Answer's to vidding questions )

I am SO excited for next Thursday's The Office. Joss Whedon is directing and talks about it during a promo here. I love that Joss is such an "insane fan". And my favorite quote "[Buffy] was funny. Especially when people died...That is kind of I think, my stamp." Hee. We still love you, Joss. And also, The Office is still the funniest show on earth and why isn't it Thursday yet???
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[Dec. 1st, 2006|11:37 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , , , , , , , ]
[Current Mood |cheerful]
[Current Music |SPN vids]

So I am having a very good week. Everything just seems to be coming together.

-The sun is shining and its warm outside. And its Decemember! Hee, it never gets old. It was actually really windy on Wednesday which I wouldn't mind if it wasn't freezing. Disappointing California, disappointing. But I'm not afraid to use my winter coat. Luckily it didn't come to snowpants. I suppose I should feel bad for the snow and cold that apparently other parts of the country are experiencing. *thinks about my 18 years of cold winters* Nope, I don't think so. *gloats*
-I finished my big essay! And it didn't suck. My perfectionist side is happy and I'm glad and relieved its done. Now I just have to get through the next two weeks of finals and papers but I think I can do it. And in one of my classes I can even make a vid for my final project :) And in another essay I can do poetry so it's looking up on the academic front.
-Christmas is coming! I love the cheerfulness of the holiday season. I can't wait to see my cats again not to mention my friends and parents. And get them to buy me things. I actually bought a cheap printer/copier/scanner and relented in finally getting a cell phone as presents for myself on Black Friday. And speaking of presents, [livejournal.com profile] charmax made me some vidding icons that I love madly. Vidding icons, yay!
-Speaking of vidding, I can't wait to be able to vid! It's killing me to not have the time. My space is running out on my hard drive as I have *counts them* 4 fandoms heavily represented on there (mostly in DVD format, whole episodes). And I want to squeeze in another one. Is it Decemember 17th yet?
-I'm still behind on a few shows but I'm nearing the end of BSG S2 (Lay Down Your Burdens Pt1) and I am still loving the show. I can't wait to have time to watch more shows. My current schedule of shows I want to watch completely by the end of January (after BSG):

1) Due South (I'm on the 1x12, I think)
2) Stargate Atlantis (I'm on 1x15ish)
3) The OC (2x16ish), Lost (2x06ish, watching mostly because of Nathan/obsessed friend), Wonderfalls (1x03ish) *I have no idea what order I'm watching these in but I want to get them caught up/finished
4) Farscape (I want to understand those vids!)
5) Hopefully I'll have sometime to rewatch some BtVS, AtS and SPN episodes

If you don't know by now, I have a high tolerance for TV shows. If you doubt me, I watched Laguna Beach and didn't completely hate it (which in my defense, I only watched for the pretty California shots). This holds true for a lot of things including music, books/fanfic and movies but except for music, I am decidingly more picky with the latter two these days. This is really helpful in that I'm also slightly spoiler phobic. I find it enhances my viewing experience when I don't have any advance idea of what happens except for a preview or two. Which is not helpful for vid watching as I don't like being visually spoiled much either. Which is why I plan to watch a lot of shows and why having a lot of vids in a fandom motivates me to want to watch the show. I like to actually understand what's going on in the vids.

This leads me to the always helpful posts where vidders post commentary on awesome vids making me really, really happy. Go watch, read and feedback!
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Birthday! [Oct. 11th, 2006|08:07 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood |satisfied]
[Current Music |Bricks mashup]

Before I get to my own, happy (belated) birthdays to [livejournal.com profile] greensilver and [livejournal.com profile] lierduoma! Hope you both had wonderful days, my fellow October birthdays.

So I had my 19th birthday today. It was my first birthday away from my parents in California. It was awesome! Thank you to everyove who wished me a happy birthday, it is much appreciated. I am now the proud owner of a video iPod! I love it, so shiny and new and I can now play a ton of music, vids and tv episodes. Pure heaven, right there. Just imagine, being able to play whatever vid I want, wherever I am. Yay! I really am having a great day, everyone has been wonderful to me, I received mail from relatives and I had a great meal and cake and ice cream. Plus a book I was waiting for came for me at the library so I had fun reading that during work. And now I can just relax and read my Flist and watch my favorites vids and TV episodes. I've been really busy the last few weeks and its nice to take a break from that.

I was thinking about it on the way back from Disneyland on Saturday (fun!), 19 is not a big birthday or anything, just one step closer to 20 and 21. But for me, it marks the first year that I've truly found my independence. I'm quite addicted to it now, I love doing things on my own, getting my own money and buying whatever I want and I greatly look forward to the day when I can live completely on my own. I feel a lot more mature now, I'm still learning and growing of course and look to continue that in the coming year, but I think I've come a long way since last year. I'm so happy that I made my dream come true and now I'm right where I want to be with a way to become who I want to be.

Also? Fans are the best because both [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett and [livejournal.com profile] killabeez made amazing Supernatural vids! Talk about awesome birthday surprises. Download them here: Lum's vid and Killa's vid. Not to mention [livejournal.com profile] sisabet joining the ranks of Supernatural fans/vidders makes me even more happy.

It's been a great day :D
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Vidding Thoughts [Sep. 18th, 2006|08:06 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Mood |creative]
[Current Music |Vividcon 2005/2006 vids]

I have been in vidding mode the last two days, watching and listening to vids and reading all the vid meta I can. Vidding is so my primary fandom because although I have a lot of shows I watch and fandoms I pay attention to and read fic to, most of the time I just read fic for ships and am not interested in gen or daily happenings of shows. But I love gen for vidding, in fact I'd love to see it more and do more of it myself. I love to find out everything I can about vidding, I'll read almost anything about it and still be interested. And I still miss Vividcon, it feels like a dream that I went there, met so many awesome people and had such a wonderful time. Is it Vividcon 2007 yet?

More vid thoughts under the cut )

I've realized that I don't give enough long feedback to vidders. There are a lot of vids that I love so much and I watch a LOT but my extent of my feedback is nothing at all, "I love it" to a paragraph or so. I'd like to apoligize for this as I feel bad about it. I understand how much long feedback is appreciated and I LOVE vids and want to let vidders know how much I enjoy and think about their work. But I really want to try to give more detailed feedback and have made it my new mission to try to send it out as much as I can from now on. What's held me back from it in the past is my usual perfectionistic tendencies. I feel if I send a long feedback email for a vid, it'll have to have ALL my thoughts and reactions to it and I know that will take a long time. To add to that, I feel I have to write something brilliant and if I don't then I shouldn't write anything at all until later when I can come up with something smarter. This comes with the knowledge that I admire a lot of the vidders out there and think they are OMG, so smart, and so I feel kind of hyperaware of them and what they'll think of me. I've realized I just need to work with what I have for right now and if I think of something else in the future, I can always send that later. So hopefully, you vidders (and maybe fic writers if I can manage it) will see some long feedback from me in your inbox soon.

In other fandom news, I am still loving Prison Break and thought the new episode tonight was awesome. I am addicted to the suspense and I continue to love all the characters, getting swept up in their storylines. I wholeheartedly rec [livejournal.com profile] f1renze's vid to the show, Ragged Ass Road which captures everything I've wanted to see vidded in the first season from the master plan to the brothers love for each other to the cool motion. Just a gorgeous vid that has continued with my great pleasure to recruit more people into watching the show. I'm also enjoying Nip/Tuck in all its craziness and am impressed that finally the slash between Sean/Christian is actually getting explored. If only more shows were on cable and weren't afraid of the gay. There really needs to be more vids to the show, its very pretty visually and has great editing especially during the medical scenes, making them worth watching. Also finished Battlestar Galactica season 1 yesterday and it was amazing. Just about every episode has an interesting, suspenseful plot and a great ending. The characters are great, I loove Starbuck and I like all the rest of the characters and their relationships. Can't wait to finish the second season so I can watch the third with everyone.
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[Aug. 31st, 2006|11:32 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |good]
[Current Music |Vienna Teng songs]

First of all, a big Happy Birthday to [livejournal.com profile] sdwolfpup! You are an amazing vidder and I am lucky to know you. And if anyone hasn't seen her latest vid, Fix You-BSG then you definitely should.

I'm still enjoying college although I didn't have the best day today. Sometimes I just feel so pessimistic with life and myself and its hard to shake that. Tonight I went to listen to this comedian and that made me laugh and feel better along with some happy B/J vids. In other college news, I'm looking to join Chapman Radio so I can have my own radio show, which would be beyond cool. Plus it would easily allow me to pursue my goal of expanding my music horizons and discover lots of new music that I've never heard. And I would so be playing vid songs that I love as well.

Ooh and also I got a replacement hard drive (1 day shipping! I loove SoCal) so I can now vid so much easier, yay! I have been in a very vidding mood lately and hopefully when I can find some time, I can work on that. Which reminds me, I love all my classes so far but Introduction to Film Aesthetics is the BEST. I am so excited about learning everything in it and connecting everything to vidding. I cannot wait until we get to the section on editing obviously. But today we watched Fargo and I took a whole bunch of notes on it and it felt like I was getting ready to vid to it while at the same time it made me more aware of all the things I've learned from vidding. It really has opened my eyes to how you can look at visual texts.

Am still catching up with LJ and I wish I had spent more time doing so beforehand as I'm afraid I may have missed some VVC posts and others from way back that I can no longer get to (LJ really must let me skip past 1000). I can't believe its September already. On the plus side, only 1 month and two weeks until my birthday and a shiny new video iPod!
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California: Here I come! [Aug. 20th, 2006|12:32 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , ]
[Current Mood |excited]
[Current Music |Premiere vids]

So it's finally here, the day that I move to California. I can hardly believe it, I've waited so long for this moment and now I'm leaving. I'm just about done packing and ready to begin the next chapter in my life. I'm leaving this morning around 5 AM and I move into Chapman University in Orange, California on Tuesday. I can't wait for it to begin and I've planned this for so long that its great for it to actually be happening. But before I go, some reflection on why I hated high school, why I decided to go to college in California and why that college turned out to be Chapman University.

Long explanation under the cut )

Going to sneak in a vid rec too. Everyone should go over and watch [livejournal.com profile] absolut3destiny's new vid, I Enjoy Being a Girl. One of my favorite vids ever with a perfect mix of Sydney Bristow, Buffy, Starbuck, Veronica Mars and Zoe being perfectly edited to the music with awesome parallels and kick ass fighting. I've been listening/watching it nonstop ever since Vividcon and it made me miss Veronica Mars and Firefly even more. It's just amazing. *am still in vidding mode*
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Vividcon 2006 Con Report [Aug. 16th, 2006|01:07 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood |nostalgic]
[Current Music |Rent soundtrack/Club Vivid/Premiere vids]

Okay, here's my Vividcon report. Very long with personal stuff included. Apologies to anybody I forgot.

Pre Premieres )
Premieres Comments )
Post Premieres )
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Vid rec, meta and a bit of BtVS/Angel [Jul. 24th, 2006|12:48 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Mood |creative]
[Current Music |Once More with Feeling Soundtrack]

Just wanted to rec [livejournal.com profile] kitkatbyte's new vid, Love Ridden, a Brian/Justin s5 video. It's absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking with good use of motion and music/clip matching. Go watch it and be sure to leave feedback!


It's helped inspire me to get working on my own B/J vid that's been on hold for a year so I can finally finish it. I've been in a very vidding mood for the past two days as I've found new vid meta in various places. First I found an archive of the Music Video Bootcamp thread at [livejournal.com profile] bandofbuggered (under February 2003) with lots of good vid meta and discussion of videos and how to improve them. Even though I can't see a lot of the videos as the links don't work anymore, its still interesting to read about. Also I looked at the old posts at the Nummy Treat yahoo group and there's lots of good vid meta posts as well there. Yummy. I swear, I looove reading about making vids way too much. This is why I'm going to Vividcon (OMG 3 weeks!).

BtVs/AtS thoughts, tiny spoilers if any )

Been watching some good BtVS videos lately, its nice to finally understand what's actually happening in the vids. I can see now why BtVS/AtS is so vidded as the motion and camera angles and other cool visual things are prevalent in both. Also whenever I was watching either of the shows, a lot of clips I'd be like, oh hey, I know that visual from ____'s video. I've also watched Scooby Road, [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett's brilliant BtVS album of vids many times over and each time I pick up something new and am even more impressed with how amazing it is (plus it makes me cry almost everytime). Any vid recs for either show is always appreciated.
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Spring Break [Apr. 9th, 2006|08:18 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , , , , , , ]
[Current Music |"Out Here" by Peter Mulvey]
[Current Mood |content]

So its finally Spring Break and boy do I need it. I plan on spending it by watching lots of TV shows (mostly Due South and Buffy), reading, vidding and of course, sleeping. I may even try my hand at a bit of writing, not sure.

I'm trying to see if I can finish most of the episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer this week as I've only seen random episodes and vids for the show and figured I need to get the whole experience. Compared to Firefly, I do struuggle a bit with really identifying and loving the characters but I do relate to Willow somewhat and like all the characters, especially Giles and later I love Spike. I will say though, that Angel looks sooo much younger in the first season and that it makes him so much hotter. He's so pretty and has the whole mysterious thing going for him. Speaking of pretty, Fraser has reached the top of that scale for me. I'm on the sixth episode now and I keep repeating how beautiful he is. In that pure, utterly gorgeous and angelic type way. Definitely one of my favorite characters of all time as I can't help falling for his good character and honor and cuteness. And I love all his different environment pain and naivity to the ways of Chicago. Fraser and Vecchio are just too cute together, really funny and although I'm more behind them in a friendship with a light side of slash way, they definitely have their moments. I'm looking forward to the Fraser/RayK episodes though, after falling in love with them by seeing Burning Down the House and Eclipse and am now restraining myself to stay in order. And it is here where I have to rec one of my favorite videos from [livejournal.com profile] heres_luck, "Out here" which shows Fraser's pain so well but also has an amazing sequence with so many emotional stages and final victory. It's blows me away everytime. Also another rec for a story for Fraser/RayK would be one of my favorites, Heavy Bag by [livejournal.com profile] katallison that gets to me everytime I read it. And while your there, End of the Road is one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.

Speaking of fic recs, I just read one of my favorite fics ever that's gotten me back into Duncan/Methos and fic reading. Check out Straight and Low by [livejournal.com profile] lastrega. Found it randomly and got hooked with its funniness and it being incredibly HOT. Some fics just hit my kinks *perfectly*. Walls and seducing always get to me and this one did not disappoint. So now I'm back into DM/M and planning on seriously working on my video that I planned for them last fall. It'll be much better now since I can use my dvds to vid. And I have another vid idea for them which I think could turn out well. Duncan/Methos vid ideas don't come to me very often but when they do, they hit hard. It feels like the song is made for the ship and the voice just calls to me that its completely them. Really want to vid them now, overtaking the two vids that I actually wanted to work on this break. But I don't mind, I just need to vid and stop doing nothing. It's been too long since I seriously undertook it. This couple is actually the one that I'm going to try to write for. We'll see what happens there.

On another note, I got into Chapman University with good financial aid and a nice scholarship and I think I might be going there. Having a great film school right there is extremely tempting...

ETA: I am reeeally excited for VividCon. I can't believe I'm going and that I'll have a chance to be around tons of vid meta, new videos and amazing vidders. Sounds like heaven to me.
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Vidding Thoughts [Mar. 2nd, 2006|03:20 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |artistic]
[Current Music |"Black Suits Comin'" by Will Smith]

So after the Great Vidding Truth Meme (leave an anonymous comment on my vids there if you like), the Video commentary meme was restored and to my great pleasure, a bunch of great vidders offered to do commentary on recent videos they've made. The links for reference:

sdwolfpup
heres_luck
sisabet
f1renze
wolfling

At least those are the ones I've seen. It's just so interesting to see why vidders made the choices they made in making different videos and the processes they took to get the final product. It helps me a lot in knowing what to look for in creating my own vid regarding clip choices and narrative, movement, tech effects and other vid related things. I've become increasingly aware of motions in vids now and I keep spotting all these things in vids I'm watching that I've never seen before. It's really cool and definitely something I want to work on. I first remember seeing it movement easily in [livejournal.com profile] sockkpuppett's vid, "Prophecy" when Wesley walks around and turns right into Angel in a completely different clip and I've been able to see that previously (this was awhile back). But now I see different character all turning their heads a certain way or moving in the same direction and other cool things like that.

In that vein, I'm going to recommend a few videos I'm really enjoying right now where I'm seeing all kinds of movement. First some "old" videos, with a rec for imation's vid Black Suits Comin' which uses Angel source. It's a really fun video and the shot of LA with all the movement and cutting, sucks me in every time. Not to mention the intercut fighting scenes that flow into each other, explosions and people bursting out of doors and windows on the big beat (terminology?). Another Buffy video I'm loving is [livejournal.com profile] dualbunny's Volcano Girls (at the bottom of the page) which is a Buffy vid which sucks you in with the action and the fun with intercutting, flowing movement and actions on the beats. Plus, dancing + fight=love for me so I enjoy it immensely along with my music love of it. Also, if you want to check out a Smallville fun video that makes fun of Clark's confused nature, go here and see [livejournal.com profile] sisabet's new vid. It makes me put aside my Clark dislike and enjoy the crazy situations he gets himself into.

Personal Vidding Thoughts )

I got 5 free iTunes songs by taking a college survey :) Only problem is, I'm not sure what to use them for since I usually get my music free anyway. So I'll have to try to find something that makes it worth it. Any suggestions?
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Vidding Links [Jan. 30th, 2006|01:31 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Music |"New Frontier" by Benefits of Being Paranoid]
[Current Mood |thoughtful]

Just have to post a rec here first to one of the best vids you'll ever see, New Frontier made by [livejournal.com profile] heres_luck. It's a Serenity vid and its just amazing. Great song choice, cool movement and very interesting. It wows the mind too much to even comment. Go here: http://heres-luck.livejournal.com/183746.html to download and make sure to feedback!

Another great vidding discussion is located here: http://community.livejournal.com/vidding/493124.html where [livejournal.com profile] absolut3destiny posts feedback about a vid but more importantly goes over some interesting points about narrative, authorial intent and show/vid context. It's incredibly fascinating to think about and gives some tips on making videos better. Things I learned:

1) Look at the clip before and after each clip you put down and think about how it relates. Try to find a connection between clips. I think this works narratively and in terms of the visuals like movement, color, positions, etc.
2) The beginning is hugely important in setting up your vid so don't be random there.
3) Look at the context of the clip from what it suggests to a viewer who's never seen the show and someone who has.
4) Know what you're saying and find a narrative that illustrates that. Go from one place to another, make it a journey.
5) Make sure your song can carry your theme and only choose one. Don't have aspects conflict with each other to the detriment of the vid.
6) Focus on motion, pacing and the flow of the vid. Don't chop up sections using black/white fades unless you want to separate them.
7) Use dissolves to relect a passing of time and one thing turning into another but don't overuse.

On a personal vidding note, how come I keep coming up with video ideas that are mostly about Brian Kinney? I have 4 of them at the moment (3 B/J and 1 ensemble) and even though there are other things I want to vid, I can't seem to come up with songs for them. At the moment I need to actually start vidding although Premiere is giving me trouble so I'll need to figure that out. Technology can just be so annoying.
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It's a Very Vidding Christmas [Dec. 24th, 2005|07:20 pm]

anoel
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |creative]
[Current Music |"Wonderwall" by Oasis]

Finally. Finally, I have the free time that I've been craving so I can vid. And vid. And vid.

So far I've vidded about 15 hours, looked at vidding guides, watched videos and read some video meta. Yum. I'm working on some secret santa videos and remaking a video that I lost which is nice since I know most of the clips I want to use. Also thanks to [livejournal.com profile] absolut3destiny's A&E's Technical Guide to All Things Audio and Video I was able to fix some things with my video/audio setup that has helped make a vidding a much more enjoyable process (as well as some AviSynth love!). Now I can't wait to vid allll break. I'm going away, Monday to Thursday to a place w/o computer access...but that's not stopping me because I'm bringing my computer. Yep, don't have my laptop yet so I have to resort to extremes. But it's totally worth it and there's nothing much to do where I'm going. No internet access but that's what libraries are for.

I'm also planning on vidding a lot in the next two months. I'm working on a Firefly, Veronica Mars and Queer as Folk videos this week but I have plans for two more Firefly vids (Mal), a Highlander video (Duncan/Methos), a Grey's Anatomy Cristina/Burke (B pov) video and a Nip/Tuck video (Christian/Julia). I'd like to learn more about how to use Adobe Premiere to the best effect as well as try the intimidating Adobe Aftereffects.

I want to put in a vid rec here. Just saw an video for Veronica Mars, "Feeling Good" by [livejournal.com profile] astartexx. It's a Veronica/Logan video, leaning more toward Logan. Perfect song choice, snazzy editing, cool parellels and great editing all in one. You can download it at this page: Master List of Music Videos .Plus, it's one of my favorite songs. I just loove Michael Buble's version of it: it's basically music sex and oh so pretty.

Anyways, I'm going to get a paid LJ user account for Christmas. I like the new 6 icon upgrade but I really need 100 as well as all the other benefits (mood theme!). My other major present is a new website so I can host all my vids :D Going to get that in a week. I'm going to use Dreamhost since I've heard good reviews of them. I'm probably going to use it for hosting all my videos, including my old Lex/Lana ones and my ones to come. Going to have some vid recs there, a list of my favorite shows/characters/ships and shows I want to watch, links of vidding resources/vidder webpages and some screencaps. Also might offer to host some videos for people who don't have a site depending on how much room I have. I can't wait! It's been something I've been wanting for a long time.

Oh and how much do I love secret santa communities? I just love whoever my Veronica Mars SS is because I am loooving my two new icons. How cute is Veronica/Norris? *adores* And I'm happy my own SS liked my gift :) I hope my real vids for them go over well.

Time to get back to vidding :)

ETA: Change of plans. Not going away. Yay :)
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Vid Rec, meme and weird dreams [Nov. 14th, 2005|01:48 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Music |"Nervous Breakthrough" Lucious Jackson]
[Current Mood |awake]

First, go watch this vid: http://www.livejournal.com/users/sisabet/320165.html?style=mine
It's okay if you've never seen an episode of due South or even know what the show is about. It's an absolutely amazing video and deserves to be watched. Lots of gorgeous nature shots and Cute!Polar Bears, perfect editing, beautiful music and powerful emotional shots. I could go on and on but I'll stop. Go watch and leave feedback!

From [livejournal.com profile] mauve_cailean
Bold what is true about you.
Italicize what you wish was true about you.
Add one true thing about you to the end of the list.
Tag five LJ friends.

Meme )

On another note, just want to mention two dreams I had recently that I thought was weird. In the first one, my momwas driving on this highway system where there were multiple levels of tracks, above and below each other. She went super fast and went out of control and then while on the highest road, jumped off the it down to the next level and then to the next...and finally we (my mom, brother and me) all crashed off the road, out of the car and down into a deep river that was waay down below us. I managed to crash into the water at a dive but it was really hard being from a long distance. Now I have no idea of the medical facts of this but in my dream, when my whole family survived, the doctors told us even though we looked lik we were fine on the surface, we still had internal injuries and at any minute we could die. We were left with a bunch of other people in the same condition. All I can say it was really freaky to know you could die at any moment with no indication. Could have been inspired by the Grey's Anatomy train episode with the woman who died of internal bleeding or something like that.

Then there was a dream with my family at my grandma's house. My dad was there this time, I don't remember too many details but my mom was outside when all of a sudden my aunt came in and said she was dead. I was just shocked, I don't really remember feeling anything after that but during the next day, she wasn't there and dead to everyone. I remember trying to figure out what we would do without her gone and hugging my dad. But then my aunt comes in with my cousin and says it was all a joke and that she wasn't dead, just pretending. I was like, WHAT? What kind of person would pull a joke like that? Only in dreams I guess. They are very weird, although interesting at times.
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Depth [Jul. 22nd, 2004|03:55 am]

anoel
[Tags|, , , , ]
[Current Mood |thoughtful]
[Current Music |"Haunted" by Poe]

What truly interests me in a story? In a character? Vid? Fanfic?

I think the major thing is depth. I can be tolerant with a lot of things but I want to know there's more than just the shallow (unless that's what I'm looking for and thats not usually what I'm truly invested in). I may be the only one seeing it but that's why its personal. I want to look at something and be amazed at how complex it really is. I might have only a vague notion of it but I know it runs deep. Inside I can see layers upon layers of tunnels, twists, mazes that never end and are all connected. The fun part is to try to capture those specific little pieces and then frame them all into the bigger picture.

It's like a cycle. First I feel that overwhelming feeling of knowing that this depth exists. Thats when I'm seeing the whole thing. Then I try to find this complexity and investigate all the small bits of it. Gradually they interconnect together and finally I'm back where I began, amazed at how it all fits together into one big whole. I've never quite deciphered it all but the best thing is that it doesn't need to be. That mystery is what makes it even better and more interesting.

For example, one of the characters I love the most, Lex is exactly like this for me. Anyone on a journey from good to bad must have to be pretty complex. And he completly is. Sure, I love the outside image he presents but I'm really drawn to him because I know there is so much there, under the surface. He has so many phases in his life, the scared little kid, the rebellious youth and now the ambitious buisness man. He blurs these transitions as he fights to stop the inevitable phase of evil villian. But through it all I can always find so much in him and its always interesting. He just makes me feel that there is always more to him, that his being is like a black hole, an infinite universe that I can never fully explore, but I want to try.

In vids I also want to have that. No matter what it is, if I feel there is more under the surface, I'll keep watching endlessly until I figure it out. A vid example of this is Superstar by [livejournal.com profile] heres_luck What got to me in this vid is how deeply it goes into Faith, into her psyche. I'm totally drawn in, I want to know more but I can never fully know. Which of course, always leads me back for more. The vid itself is extremely complex as well, it equally matches the character study and reinforces it. The technical mastery and artistic beauty is beautiful and there is always more to it. I keep watching the vid and finding all the little things that make it so good. But it always leads back to the overall effect it has.

Another vid that gets to me is Haunted by Seah and Margie, at Seah and Margie's Vids. I have no knowledge of the fandom and that made it a bit confusing but I was sucked in by how interesting it seemed. And then came the ultimate: Big Emotion. Helped by the song but the visuals and build up made it even more prominent. I truly felt how deep the emotion was and it sent me soaring, to a place I could go and explore and never get tired of it and there is always more there to discover. I want to feel deeply and that is exactly what i got, not shallow feeling, but the real, genuine thing. That's what pulls me into these worlds.

The same thing goes for fics. [livejournal.com profile] katallison amazes me with the depth of her Highlander fics (havent read the rest of the fics yet) and I can read her stories over and over again. For example, One for the Road I love because of all the little things put in the story. Nothing was random, or at least I have to believe that. Because in every detail, in every part, it expresses something that speaks to the larger meaning. For me, the interesting part that I love is trying to discover it all. Oh and for Big Emotion goodness, The Parting Glass gets to me in a way that few things have ever done to me. With this I identify so strongly that I know its touching all the emotional centers in me and it turns the tables on me, so that I am the subject. Now I can even see the complex inside of me. And that to me is what all these art forms are supposed to do, to reveal something new inside myself and give me a new understanding of myself and the world. That occurs especially in the fic, Strata which I loved the most for its theme and how deeply it resonated with me. And since this is quickly turning into a rec, I say, go off and read the fics now, here at Kat Allison's Fic.

Really, all I want is that depth. That's what I'm searching for and will continue to journey down those infinite paths.
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